Karyle Bulanhagui
11 - Agape B (ABM)
Punctuation and Capitalization Rules
End Punctuation
Rule 1: Use a period at the end of a declarative sentence. (statement)
Rule 2: Use a period at the end of an imperative sentence. (command)
Rule 3: Use a question mark at the end of the interrogative sentence. (question)
Rule 4: Use an exclamation point at the end of an exclamatory sentence. (strong feeling)
Rule 5: Use an exclamation point at the end of an interjection. (strong emotion/one or two words
Commas
Rule 1: Use commas to separate three or more items in a series.
Rule 2: Use a comma to show a pause after an introductory word.
Rule 3: Use a comma after two or more prepositional phrases at the beginning of a sentence.
Rule 4: Use commas to set off words that interrupt the flow of thought in a sentence. Rule 5: Use
commas to set off names use in direct address.
Rule 6: Use a comma before and or, or but when it joins simple sentences into a compound
sentence.
Rule 7: Use a comma after the salutation of a friendly letter and after the closing of both a
friendly letter and a business letter.
Rule 8: Use a comma to prevent a misreading.
Rule 9: Use commas before and after the year when it is used with both the month and the day.
Do not use a comma if only the month and the year or the month and the day are given.
Rule 10: Use commas before or after the name of a state or a country when it is used with the
name of a city. Do not use a comma after the state postal abbreviation followed by a ZIP code.
Rule 11: Use a comma or pair of commas to set off an abbreviated title or degree following a
person‟s name.
Rule 12: Use a comma or pair of commas to set off too when too means “also.”
Rule 13: Use a comma or pair of commas to set off a direct quotation.
Semicolons and colons
Rule 1: Use a semicolon to join parts of a compound sentence when a conjunction such as and,
but, or or is not used. Remember that a compound sentence has two or more simple sentences
that are joined by a conjunction.
Rule 2: Use a colon to introduce a list of items that ends a sentence. Use a phrase such as these,
the following, or as follows before the list.
Rule 3: Use a colon to separate the hour from the minute when you write the time of day.
Rule 4: Use a colon after the salutation of a business letter.
Quotation marks and italics
Rule 1: Use quotation marks before and after a direct quotation.
Rule 2: Use quotation marks around each part of an interrupted quotation.
Rule 3: Use a comma or commas to separate a phrase such as he said from the quotation itself.
Place the comma outside opening quotation marks but inside closing quotation marks.
Rule 4: Place a period inside closing quotation marks.
Rule 5: Place a question mark or an exclamation mark inside the quotation marks when it is part
of the quotation.
Rule 6: Place a question mark or an exclamation mark outside the quotation marks when it is
part of the entire sentence but not part of the quotation.
Rule 7: Use quotation marks for the title of a short story, essay, poem, song, magazine, or
newspaper article, or book chapter.
Rule 8: Use italics (underlining) to identify the title of a book, play, film, television series,
magazine, or newspaper.
Apostrophes and Hyphens
Rule 1: Use an apostrophe and an –s(„s) to form the possessive of a singular noun.
Rule 2: Use an apostrophe and an –s („s) to form the possessive of a plural noun that does not
end in –s. Rule 3: Use an apostrophe alone to form the possessive of a plural noun that ends in –
s.
Rule 4: Use an apostrophe to replace letters that have been omitted in a contraction. A
contraction is a word that is made by combining two words into one and leaving out one or more
letters.
Rule 5: use a hyphen to show the division of a word at the end of a line. Always divide a word
between syllables.
Rule 6: Use a hyphen in compound numbers.
Rule 7: Use a hyphen or hyphens in certain compound nouns.
Abbreviations
Rule 1: Abbreviate the titles Mr., Mrs., Ms., and Dr. before a person‟s name. also abbreviate the
professional or academic degrees that follow a person‟s name, as well as the titles Jr. and Sr.
Rule 2: Use all capital letters and no periods for abbreviations that are pronounced letter by letter
or as words. Exceptions are U. S. and Washington D. C., which do use periods.
Rule 3: Use the abbreviations A.M. (ante meridiem, “before noon”) and P.M. (post meridiem,
“after noon”) for exact times. For dates use B.C. (before Christ) and, sometimes, A.D. (anno
Domini, “in the yer of the Lord,” after Christ).
Rule 4: Abbreviate calendar items only in charts and lists.
Rule 5: In scientific writing, abbreviate units of measure. Use periods with abbreviations of
English units but not of metric units.
Rule 6: On envelopes abbreviate the words that refer to streets in street names. Spell them out
everywhere else.
Rule 7: On envelopes use state postal service abbreviations for the names of states. Everywhere
else, spell out state names.
Numbers
Rule 1: Spell out numbers that you can write in one or two words.
Rule 2: Use numerals for numbers of more than two words.
Rule 3: Spell out any number that begins a sentence or reword the sentence so that it does not
begin with a number.
Rule 4: Write a very large number in numerals followed by the word million or billion.
Rule 5: If related numbers appear in the same sentence, use all numerals even though you might
spell out one of the numbers if it appeared alone.
Rule 6: Spell out ordinal numbers (such as first, second, and third).
Rule 7: Use words to express the time of day unless you are writing the exact time with the
abbreviation A.M. or P.M.
Rule 8: Use numerals to express dates, house and street numbers, apartment and room numbers,
telephone numbers, page numbers, amounts of money of more than two words, and percentages.
Write out the word percent.
Rules on Capitalization
1. CAPITALIZE THE FIRST WORD OF A SENTENCE
This is one of the easiest, most straightforward rules of capitalization. Whenever you start a new
sentence, capitalize the first letter of the first word. Simple as that!
2. CAPITALIZE PROPER NOUNS AND NAMES
A proper noun is a specific name for a person, place, or thing. These types of nouns should
always be capitalized, no matter where they land in a sentence. Proper nouns include but aren‟t
limited to: companies, countries, cities, political parties, and religions.
Names should also be capitalized. That includes first, middle, and last names.
3. CAPITALIZE THE MAJORITY OF TITLES
Capitalization rules for titles can vary from styleguide to styleguide. As a rule of thumb, you
should capitalize the first word of a title, verbs, adjectives, nouns, and of course, proper nouns.
This leaves prepositions, articles, and conjunctions in lowercase.
Pro Tip: You should also capitalize someone‟s title – like Doctor or Judge – if you directly
address them, even if you leave out their name.
4. CAPITALIZE EVENTS AND PERIODS
You will need to capitalize periods, eras, and specific events. However, centuries and century
numbers should not be capitalized.
5. CAPITALIZE “I” AS A PRONOUN
We‟re all used to seeing words like iPhone, iPad, and iMac by now. You don‟t have to capitalize
the “i” in these words. It would look strange if you did and wouldn‟t be grammatically correct.
However, if the “I” is a pronoun, then it should always be uppercase.
6. CAPITALIZE ANY LOCATIONS AND DIRECT ADDRESSES
When a direction is part of a name, then you should capitalize it. For example, South Bend or
Northern California. However, if it‟s just a direction and not part of a name, then it shouldn‟t be
capitalized, like “turn east at the stop sign.”
7. CAPITALIZE FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS
When you use a word to indicate a family relationship, it should be capitalized if it‟s used as a
proper noun. For instance, “Grandpa” or “Uncle Bob.” However, if you aren‟t referring to that
person by name, then it wouldn‟t need to be capitalized. For example, “my grandpa” or “our
uncle.”
8. CAPITALIZE MONTHS, HOLIDAYS, AND DAYS
The names of months, holidays, and days are considered to be proper nouns. This means they
need to be capitalized.
Knowing this capitalization rule, a lot of people mistakenly capitalize the names of seasons. But
seasons like winter and summer should NOT be capitalized. They are not categorized as proper
nouns.
9. CAPITALIZE TRADEMARK NAMES
Trademark and brand names are typically seen as proper nouns. This means you‟ll need to
capitalize them.
10. DON’T CAPITALIZE AFTER A COLON
The final rule on our list is a little different. This one tells you when NOT to capitalize. In
general, you shouldn‟t capitalize the word following a colon. You aren‟t starting a new sentence,
so there‟s no need for it.
However, there is an exception to this rule. If the first word following a colon is a proper noun,
then it needs to be capitalized.